Stephanie White named Coach of the Year after Sun 'revamp' - ESPN

The Connecticut Sun's Stephanie White has been named the 2023 WNBA Coach of the Year in her first year at the helm of the team, the league announced Sunday.

White received 36 of 60 possible votes, with the Dallas Wings' Latricia Trammel coming in second with 11 votes and Sandy Brondello of the New York Liberty earning third place with six votes.

White led the Sun to a 27-13 regular-season record and the No. 3 seed in the playoffs, where they are currently up 1-0 in their best-of-three first-round series against the Minnesota Lynx. She was hired in November following the departure of former coach Curt Miller to the Los Angeles Sparks and as Connecticut was coming off a second WNBA Finals appearance in four years. The Sun are still seeking the franchise's first WNBA title.

Outside expectations for the Sun were mixed after they lost 2021 MVP Jonquel Jones and Jasmine Thomas in the offseason. But if onlookers thought the Sun would be rebuilding, White never did given the competitive, experienced pieces the team returned — Alyssa Thomas, DeWanna Bonner, Brionna Jones and Natisha Hiedeman — and the ones they would later add in Tiffany Hayes and Rebecca Allen.

It was clear from the onset of the season that the Sun were contenders, as they started 9-3 and were the first team to beat the first-place Las Vegas Aces before losing Jones, a two-time All-Star, to a season-ending Achilles tear in late June.

But the Sun barely stumbled after Jones' injury, earning a seventh consecutive playoff berth, the longest active streak in the league. Along the way, Thomas has emerged as an MVP candidate and Bonner has had a career season in Year 14.

«We could have easily thrown in the towel, but that's not the makeup of these players,» White told